Picking a financial advisor can be a daunting task. "What do I look for? Where do I start? Do I even need one?” These are a few of the questions you may ask yourself when starting the process. Many times, not knowing the answers will stop the process right there. This checklist will help you through this process and know what to look for and ask.

Andrew Luck shocked the sports world on Saturday night when he announced he was retiring from the NFL. The former #1 Draft Pick was in the middle of what many considered the prime of his career. He was widely regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the league and the Colts were likely going to be a Super Bowl contender for the next few seasons. A player of his caliber retiring at the age of 29 is almost unheard of. The owner of the Indianapolis Colts speculated that Andrew was leaving potentially $500 million on the table by retiring now rather than playing out his career into his late 30s or early 40s like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady.

I thought it would be interesting to see what can you learn from Andrew Luck’s retirement and how you can apply it to your own situation. Whether you are a professional athlete, young professional, or pre-retiree – there is something for you in this post.

I recently finished “Zero to One” by Peter Thiel. I’m a few years late to it being released, but it has left quite an impact on my outlook. While the book delves into the mindset necessary to build a successful startup, there is one specific chapter in the book that struck a chord with me.

Chapter 6 is titled “You Are Not A Lottery Ticket” and the entire time I was reading it I could not stop thinking about how applicable this notion is to personal finances. I don’t want this post to turn into a full on book report, so I will briefly summarize what Peter states.

You may hear on the nightly news “The Dow was down 1.3% today” or “The NASDAQ was up 50 points today.” Have you ever wondered what they were talking about or what it meant? You are not alone in those thoughts.

You may hear on the nightly news “The Dow was down 1.3% today” or “The NASDAQ was up 50 points today.” Have you ever wondered what they were talking about or what it meant? You are not alone in those thoughts.

Investing for first-time investors can be pretty overwhelming. There are so many variables out there and they can be pretty confusing. There are different retirement accounts, investment accounts, some account let you invest in different things, etc. But perhaps the most overlooked item is not knowing what your tolerance for risk is. And not only that, making sure your investments actually reflect how much risk you are willing to take on.

When it comes to your own personal finances there are no dumb questions; however, many people are intimidated by the industry jargon, or things they don’t know much about, and thus are very self-conscious to not ask questions for the fear they may come off as unintelligent. I’ve made it my mission to make my company as inviting as possible because I understand how complicated many of these topics can be. So, today’s post is about one of the fundamental building blocks for personal finance. To make this as simple as possible, this post is part dictionary, part examples. The concept is the difference between a stock and a bond.

The purchase of your home could easily be one of the largest transactions you will make in your life. Buying a home can be an emotional process-- one where you are tempted to think more about what you want right now and therefore lose sight of what is best for you and your family in the long run. The decision to choose a 15 year mortgage or a 30 year mortgage may end up affecting your personal finances more than any other decision you'll make. Unfortunately, many people don’t look much further than the larger monthly payment of the 15 year mortgage, so they instinctively choose the 30-year mortgage. This is a decision that can cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

One of the easiest things to overlook during changing of employers is what to do with your old 401(k). And sometimes you get another 401(k) when your company is acquired or merged with another company. And in today’s job market, it’s likely at some point in your working years you are going to have more than a single 401(k). It’s rare an employee spends their entire career at a single company anymore.

One of the questions we often get is “What does a financial plan look like”? Without actually seeing one, it can be difficult to wrap one’s head around. So look no further than this sample financial plan I completed for Jim and Pam Halpert (of “The Office” fame). While they lived in Pennsylvania for the show, in this plan they are living in Tennessee.